# Is McCain forked yet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 25, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604 "2008-05-25T23:58:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 44
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/861 "2008-10-02T18:11:35Z")
Barack Obama bought his own entire cable channel on the Dish Network. 24/7 Obama. [Story](http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/The_Obama_channel.html). [Screen Cap](http://www.flickr.com/photos/23777950@N07/2905511983/). ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/862 "2008-10-02T18:15:48Z")
He may not be forked just yet, but he’s turning into a real [whiney prig](http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/02/mccain-says-obama-lead-growing-because-life-isnt-fair/) about being behind in the polls. Oh boo-hoo, I’m doing everything right, but I’m still losing to Obama “because life isn’t fair.” ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/863 "2008-10-02T18:22:15Z")
[McCain pulls out of Michigan.](http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/864 "2008-10-02T18:25:42Z")
CNN is on crack if they think Iowa is a battleground this year. Obama currently leads by 12, and has rarely had less than a 5 point margin. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Mississippi, Georgia, and Texas started coming into play, given their recent polls. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/865 "2008-10-02T18:28:02Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > He may not be forked just yet, but he’s turning into a real [whiney prig](http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/02/mccain-says-obama-lead-growing-because-life-isnt-fair/) about being behind in the polls. > > Oh boo-hoo, I’m doing everything right, but I’m still losing to Obama “because life isn’t fair.” > [@John McCain](#): > > [Barack Obama] certainly did nothing for the first few days. . . I suspended my campaign, took our ads down, came back to Washington, met with the House folks and got on the phone, and also had face-to-face meetings. He’s delusional. [ABC News/WashPost Poll: Palin Popularity Plummeting](http://thepage.time.com/2008/10/02/washington-postabc-news-poll-palin-may-be-a-drag-for-the-gop/) Six in 10 voters see her as lacking the experience to be an effective president, and a third are now **less likely to vote for McCain because of her.** _Dates conducted: Sept. 27-29. Error margin: 3 points._ ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/866 "2008-10-02T18:35:11Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if. . . Texas started coming into play. . . I bet my husband last night that Texas would go blue. He hasn’t decided what he wins if it stays red, but I get a 30 minute massage from him if it does go blue. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/867 "2008-10-02T18:43:31Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > I bet my husband last night that Texas would go blue. He hasn’t decided what he wins if it stays red, but I get a 30 minute massage from him if it does go blue. 😃 So, have you picked out the lotion yet? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/868 "2008-10-02T18:44:38Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > I suspect John won’t be able to force himself into any semblence of respect for Obama, This is one of the more baffling aspects of this whole election cycle. Obama, as far as I can tell\*, has been running a campaign that is fairly well free of personal attacks on his opponent. There are certainly negative ads, comparing McCain to Bush, or whatever, but very little of the “my opponent is a stupid, worthless, ass” type of stuff. Obama, OTOH, has been targeted by personal attacks by everyone he’s been campaigning against. Clinton said that she’d rather have McCain as president instead of Obama. They made fun of Obama’s resume during the convention, called him an “elitist”, etc. Yet, both Clinton and McCain seem to act as though Obama has spent the entire campaign kicking puppies, when all he’s done is come off better in the polls. \*I am not in a battleground state, and get the majority of my news online. Did I somehow miss all the personal attacks against McCain that justify his apparent hatred of Obama? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/869 "2008-10-02T18:49:32Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Not sure that it would be wise for him to go that route, but I think if Obama makes even an innocent-sounding joke about McCain’s service, he has a good chance of provoking McCain into a frothing red-face diatribe on live TV. After John utters some boilerplate about how he will steer the economy, Obama might touch him on the shoulder and say joshingly, “LIke you crashed those five planes, John? Ah, you know I’m just kidding, buddy.” McCain’s military service is a third rail. Obama cannot go there, seriously. He’s never served (there was never any real international military crisis during his eligible years) and he has no ground to stand on to make light of McCain’s. It’s kind of irritating to hear Obama praise his opponent near-constantly (“I respect Senator McCain’s service”, “Senator McCain is a true hero”, etc.), but he can’t go there. He can’t even be perceived as going there (see his walkback of Gen. Clark’s comments back in primary season). Besides, McCain is doing more than his fair share to make his military service into a thinly-veiled joke. “POW” is becoming a punch line, and it’s entirely due to McCain’s campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/870 "2008-10-02T18:49:59Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Six in 10 voters see her as lacking the experience to be an effective president, and a third are now **less likely to vote for McCain because of her.** Like my roommate, who was wavering, and decided to vote for Obama because he didn’t think Palin was competent. Add to the list of Texas, Miss., and Georgia: Arkansas. Apparently Clinton and Beebe are having a rally in Little Rock next week. I’d say they can probably whittle away a good bit of that 10-point gap, especially if it reflects relatively little effort on the part of the Obama campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/871 "2008-10-02T18:51:21Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Yet, both Clinton and McCain seem to act as though Obama has spent the entire campaign kicking puppies, when all he’s done is come off better in the polls. I imagine both McCain and Clinton secretly think that coming out ahead of them in the polls is a bigger sin than kicking puppies. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/872 "2008-10-02T18:52:48Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > I bet my husband last night that Texas would go blue. He hasn’t decided what he wins if it stays red, but I get a 30 minute massage from him if it does go blue. 😃 But hey then Spiny\* wins too! 🙂 \*I am remembering right aren’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/873 "2008-10-02T18:54:47Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > [McCain pulls out of Michigan.](http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/) Friendly internets tip: Link us to the “[permalink](http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1008/McCain_pulling_out_of_Michigan.html?showall)” for blog articles like that. If you just link to the blog, as soon as the blogger posts something else, your link becomes confusing. 🙂 I’m in Dallas, TX. If Obama wins here I will drop dead of joy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/874 "2008-10-02T18:59:04Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Yet, both Clinton and McCain seem to act as though Obama has spent the entire campaign kicking puppies, when all he’s done is come off better in the polls. Both Clinton and McCain are Washington veterans who see the Presidency as their due, as near as I can tell. McCain got jerked around in 2000, so this was _his_ chance. Both of them might well have won, too, Clinton in the primary and McCain in the general, but for Obama. He’s basically stealing the election in McCain’s eyes, especially since it’s unlikely McCain will ever have another chance at the Presidency after this year. Honestly, I think if I were in McCain’s position I’d have an impossibly hard time maintaining an attitude of friendly competition too. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/875 "2008-10-02T19:11:04Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > Friendly internets tip: Link us to the “[permalink](http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/1008/McCain_pulling_out_of_Michigan.html?showall)” for blog articles like that. If you just link to the blog, as soon as the blogger posts something else, your link becomes confusing. 🙂 :smack:Sorry. And thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/876 "2008-10-02T19:11:30Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > I bet my husband last night that Texas would go blue. He hasn’t decided what he wins if it stays red, but I get a 30 minute massage from him if it does go blue. 😃 You are going to lose.☹ But we have a decent chance that Fla goes blue, and that would cinch the election.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/877 "2008-10-02T19:24:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > You are going to lose.☹ But we have a decent chance that Fla goes blue, and that would cinch the election.🆒 I dunno, if things keep getting worse and McCain seems as out of touch as he does not, and Palin is confirmed to be as unqualified as she seems, we could end up with a huge landslide for Obama. Obama ought to use a motto like “Remember Katrina” in the Deep South. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/878 "2008-10-02T19:26:56Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > So, have you picked out the lotion yet? 😃 Well, I don’t want to get toooooo cocky. 😉 > [@DSeid](#): > > But hey then Spiny\* wins too! 🙂 Sort of. You see, Spiny (yes, you remembered correctly) actually does not enjoy giving traditional back massages. He’ll do it for me if I ask, but it never lasts anywhere near 30 minutes. So that would actually be something to look forward to winning on my part. He did ask for a similar type of favor if he wins, but since I pointed out that I do that anyway, and gladly, it really won’t be much of a “loss” for me, so that’s why he’s still trying to come up with something he’d like if he wins. 🙂 > [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Did I somehow miss all the personal attacks against McCain that justify his apparent hatred of Obama? They have a bit of a history, where McCain thew one of his typical hissy fits and wrote Obama a scathing letter. You can read the correspondence, [here](http://obama.senate.gov/letter/060206-sen_obama_and_sen_mccain_exchange_letters_on_ethics_reform/). I’d say his hatred for Obama preceded any advertising that may or may not have been perceived as attacking him. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/879 "2008-10-02T19:33:18Z")
While I’m aware Obama won’t win in Arizona, I have noticed that I see NO McCain stickers on cars driving around the Phoenix area. I do see my fair share of Obama ones. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604/880 "2008-10-02T19:49:06Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > While I’m aware Obama won’t win in Arizona, I have noticed that I see NO McCain stickers on cars driving around the Phoenix area. I do see my fair share of Obama ones. I had a lay-over in Phoenix this week, and I had four airport employees tell me they loved the Obama shirt I was wearing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mccain-forked-yet/450604.md?page=45)